The short answer? Because it protects what matters most.

The longer answer is that we’ve spent years watching the aromatics industry change—very quickly, and not always for the better.

Starting in the mid-2010s, essential oils moved from a specialized field into a mass-market boom. That shift happened fast. By the time these materials were everywhere—on grocery shelves, online marketplaces, and across social media—the pace had outstripped the infrastructure needed to support quality, education, and responsible sourcing.

That surge brought a lot with it. Overproduction. Speculation. Substitution. It left growers guessing what would be needed season to season. And consumers flooded with information—much of it unvetted, or driven more by sales models than by real understanding of the plants themselves.
(Read more about this shift in The Lavender Fields Forever Changed)

Ananda grew during that period, too. Eric brought the work into that fast-moving market, and the growth was real. The reach expanded almost overnight. But underneath the layers of success and scale, that speed increasingly ran against the rhythm that originally guided his work—careful sourcing, patience with materials, and a deep respect for the natural limits of both plants and people.

At a certain point, it became clear we couldn’t keep operating that way—or at the pace we’d grown into. It wasn’t sustainable for us, and it wasn’t aligned with what Eric believed in, even when the market pulled the work faster than it wanted to go.

When we first started talking about returning, the plan was modest. We wanted to tend the archives, make the education available again, and preserve what Eric built—perhaps as a book or a reference people could return to over time.

We kept hearing from people who had worked with these materials and wanted them back as part of their actual lives and practices.

That made us pause and think harder. If we were going to come back, it had to be done right—aligned with what Ananda always represented. And as it turned out, our growers had already moved to the exact model we'd only dreamed about years ago.

That’s why we chose this path.

It’s slower. It’s quieter. It asks more of everyone involved, including us. But it also feels right in a way the old model stopped feeling years ago.

Our long-time partnerships with primary distillers have extended a level of patience, flexibility, and trust that’s rare in commercial operations. This kind of relationship only exists where continuity matters more than volume.

They’re willing to:

• Plan cultivation ahead of time
• Hold limited buffer stock when it makes sense
• Reserve wild or high-altitude lots
• Work within seasonal and environmental limits

This kind of sourcing can’t be rushed, scaled, or replicated on demand. We prefer it this way—even though it means we’re constantly recalibrating.

This first year includes a modest buffer, and we’re keeping it conservative.  In this model, participation helps us understand what can truly be sustained.

The March release offers legacy formulas and essential materials in good faith—enough range to be genuinely useful, without overproduction. It wouldn’t serve anyone to produce everything at once without knowing what’s actually needed.

This way of working protects:

• The land — no speculative planting, no unnecessary extraction
• The plants — harvested when ready, not when demand spikes
• The formulations — no substitutions, no compromises
• The people who use them — honest claims, consistent quality

It keeps the work honest.  It keeps quality intact.  It keeps the relationship human.

This way of working is harder to sustain in today’s market, where the pressure to scale and stay constantly available is real. We understand that, but for us, this feels like the most honest way forward.

We work with plants, and plants move in cycles. Life does too. Things grow, mature, rest, and return. In many ways, this is a return to balance—to working with nature instead of trying to override it.

We’re not saying we have it all figured out.  But the foundation feels solid. 

This is our return.
And if you choose to join us, we’re glad you’re here.

Quick Links

→ The Rhythm We Work In
→ What This Asks of You
→ How This Cabinet Was Assembled (March 2026)
→ The Seasonal Cabinet Model
→ Your Voice Shapes Future Cabinets
→ For Practioners & Professionals